Grenade and the like.



w. MILLS GRENADE AND-TH E LIKE. APPLICATION FILEDTEB- 2.1916- Patented Ar. 24, 1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

w. MILLS. GRENADE AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION mm ts. 2,1916.

O Y I Patented A I-.24, 1917.

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WILLIAM MILLS, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

GRENADE AND THE LIKE.

Original application filed June 15, 1915,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM MILLS, a

subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain, re-

siding at Atlas Aluminium lVorks, Grove street. Birmingham, in thecounty of War-- wick, England, engineer, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in or Be lating to Grenades and the like, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention comprises certain improvements in, or relating, togrenades, and the like, and is applicable to an explosive grenade whichcan be thrown by hand, or by means of a sling, catapult, gun, or grenadeprojecting machine, or which can be thrown or dropped from air-ships oraeroplanes.

The type of grenade to which the present invention refers is that inwhich the grenade comprises or "involves a hollow body adapted tocontain the explosive charge, within which body a spring-impelledstriker is incorporated, which is normally retained in its retractedcondition by a. lever disposed externally and adapted to be retained inrelation thereto normally by retaining means, and, when such means havebeen re-- leased,- by the hand grasping the grenade so as to be releasedin the act of throwing the grenade.

In grenades ofthis type heretofore proposed the external lever has beenadapted to rock on the edge of the opening in the grenade body fromwhich the striker projects; this arrangement I have found unsatisfactoryin action and the lever is liable to fail to release the striker. Mypresent invention has for its purpose to provide for a free andparticularly efiective and certain operation of the lever and with thisobject in view the external member is mounted with a pivotadvantageously constituted by trunnions adapted to work in bearingsprovided upon or in connection with the body of the gre nade.

In order that this invention may be clearly understood and. readilycarried into prac tice, reference may be'had to the appended explanatorythree sheets of drawlngs, upon whichz- Figure lis a sect onal elevationof a hand grenade according to the present mvention.

Fig. 2 isa perspective View of the grenade shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates separately in perspective Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

Serial No. 34,232. Divided and this application filed February 2,. 1916.Serial No. 75,654.

the external lever of the grenade shown in F igs. 1 and 2.

Fig. l illustrates a modified hand grenade according to the presentinvention.

Fig. '5 illustrates in perspective, separately, the external lever ofthe grenade shownin Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a further modification of the presentinvention.

Fig. 7 illustrates in sectional elevation a still further modifiedembodiment of the present invention.

In a convenient embodiment of the present invention as shown in thedrawings, w

is the hollow body of the grenade which may be of any suitable shape orform, adapted to contain an explosive charge. Within this body a tubularhousing I) is incorporated, in which a spring-impelled sliding orlongitudinal hammer'c is disposed, adapted to operate upon a cap cl,which latter'is in communication with a time fuse e which leads to thedetonator f, the latter being contained in a second tubular housing 9and being adapted to fire the explosive contained in the body of thegrenade. i

The hammer c is retained in its retracted position shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings by an external lever h, the'extremity'i of which is adaptedto engage with the under side of a flange or enlargement yZp'rovided ator upon the outer extremity or part of the hammer, this lever beingextended around the exterior of the body of the grenade, so that it canbe retained in relation to the latter by the hand grasping the grenade,the lever being adapted torelease the hammer when it is itself re leasedby hand or the throwing appliance in the act of throwing.

One method of retaining the lever in its normal position in relation tothe grenade is shown in the drawings, and comprises a split pin isadapted to be passed through per forations in the lever, and alsothrough perforations in lugs or projections Z provided upon or integralwith the body at positions one on each side of the lever. It will benoted that the provision for incorporating this pin is convenientlydisposed near to the.

extremity of the lever in the vicinity of the hammer c, or in the partor half of the lever standard of leverage being thereby insured duringthe operation of removing the spllt pin'.lc..- The split pin it isconveniently com- I posed of metal of a pliable character, so thattheisections of the pin'may' be opened to prevent the possibility ofaccid'entalsepara tion of the pin at a time before it is'desired I tothrow the grenade. The two split portions of the projecting part of thepin may, however, be collectively bent, as for instance ina directiontoward thebody of the grenade, as shown in Fig. 2. A ring may beincorporated to assist removal of the'pin;

the striker .with' which the lever engages may be formedcto a concave orrecessed shape so that the base part of the channel lever may engagewith the head of the striker around a substantial part of'thecircumference.

At a. position near to the head of the striker the lever is furnishedwith a fixed pivot n so incorporated as to project in the form oftrunnioiis, one on each side of the lever, which trunnions are adaptedto work .in grooves provided in lugs, ribs, or projections 0 integrallyprovided upon theexternal surface of the body.-

As shown in the drawings, the lever 11. is of such form and soincorporated in relation to the external surface of the grenade thatwhen the tail of the said lever it flies or moves away from the body ofthe grenade,

the extremity of the lever in the vicinity of the enlargement j of thestriker cannot come into-contact with the body of the grenade in avmanner which would foul the action'of the lever.

The form of grenade which has been described is adapted to be thrown byhand, or

.by a throwing appliance. In the latter case the throwing appliance isfurnished with a ring,"socket or the like for the reception of the bodyof the grenade, and such ring, socket "or'the like is adapted to receivethe tail ofvthe lever h, so that the-latter is retained in its normalposition nntil, the grenade actually leaves the throwing appliance.

9 is a socket which may if desired be suitably furnished in the closuremember 9 of the grenade and into which a shaft or handle may, ifdesired, be screwed, if it should be desired to throw the grenade(together with the shaft or handle);

The socket p may be alternatively utilized for the reception of a rod,lug, or projection, adantpd to be inserted into the barrel of a riflewhen it is desired to. utilize the latter for the purpose of projectingthe grenade, or

such a rod', lug or projection may be formed integrally with ,theclosure-member. q.- A

socket or ring such-as hasbeen desoribed'in connection with the throwingappliance is suitably secured to the barrel. of the rifle,andi's'adapted to engage .with the lever and retain it i nrelation tothe body of the grenade when the grenade is assembled in the, barrel ofthe rifle, so that when the grenade is projected from the rifletlielever .may be thrown, the lever may, desired,

be applied to the handle as shown in Figs.

, 6 and 7. In Fig: 6', the tubular housing I) for containing thespring-impelled striker 0 is contained within the. handle, and othercharacteristics of the grenade will be understood from the foregoingdescription, which'substantially applies equally to Fig. 6. In Fig; 7,the lever'r is disposed in relation to the handle, but its point ofpivotal movement in relation tothe latter is-near to, or at the end of,the handle adjoining the body of the grenade, instead of near to, or atthe end of, the handle, remote from such body. The lever 1 upon beingreleased, .is adapted to release the striker a. The lever 1' may bepermanently pivoted to the handle at s or it may be furnished withtrunnions working in bearings comprised of grooves or slots suitablyincorporated in the handle. Other characteristics of the grenade shownin Fig. 7 will be understood from the foregoing description, whichsubstantially applies equally to Fig. 7 In Figs. 6 and 7, the detonatorhousing is disposed in aline-- ment with the housing for thestriker,instead of being disposed to the one side of the housing for the strikerin the grenade shown in Fig. 7, if, for instance, the internaldimensions of the hollow body of the grenade did not permit of thehousings means providing a bearing for saidpivpt,

said means permitting the arm of the lever ,to move so as to releasesaid firing means without the short arm of the lever contact- 10 thebody. of the grenade, said last mentioned means permitting said lever tomove into a position substantially radial to the body of I the grenadewithout contacting with the body. v

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set 15 my hand in the presence of twoWitnesses.

- WILLiAM MILLS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. BROWN, A. J. DAVIES.

